Elevate Your Content with Universal Design for Learning Principles
April 2025 Accessibility Tip
Beyond Accessibility: The Power of Universal Design (UDL)
Have you ever turned on closed captions for a movie, even if you’re not deaf or hard of hearing? Read a podcast transcript? Have you ever listened to an audiobook or had your computer read a document out loud, even if you don’t have low vision? Closed captions, transcripts, and screen readers aren’t just for specific groups—they’re useful tools that benefit many learners in different situations. This is an example of Universal Design—making content accessible to everyone. In education, we call this Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
One UDL guideline focuses on the “what” of learning, ensuring students can perceive and understand content without unnecessary barriers. This isn’t about lowering academic standards—it’s about removing obstacles that don’t need to be there.
To improve perception, we must make digital content accessible. This includes:
- Ensuring text works with screen readers
- Adding text descriptions to images
- Providing accurate captions and transcripts for audio
DELTA’s Digital Accessibility Guide can help you make your course materials more accessible. Small changes can make a big impact for all learners!
To support comprehension, we can:
- Use plain language
- Avoid jargon and references that might not be familiar to everyone
- Offer vocabulary and background knowledge support
- Guide students in processing new information
Read a full article in our Teaching Resources site for more information:
Elevate Your Content with UDL,
See the full UDL Guidelines published by CAST.org.:
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